


Between Two Pillars

by alienchrist



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 03:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienchrist/pseuds/alienchrist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikasa realizes something about Armin and Eren, and issues a warning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Two Pillars

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the SNK kink meme: "I want to see Mikasa sitting Eren's new significant other down and giving them The Talk." [here](http://snkkink.dreamwidth.org/524.html?thread=103692#cmt103692).

When they were all children Mikasa thought absolutely nothing about Eren and Armin. She was not raised with other children around, thus had no experiences to compare them to. She never thought them odd. Once, while they were dawdling in the marketplace, some other children hooted at Eren, "Did you find a replacement for Mikasa? Did she get fed up with looking after you?"

As far as Mikasa could see, the boys yanked away from each other at exactly the same moment, equally embarrassed. They didn't hold hands after that.

"You're not allowed to replace me with Armin," she told him as they gathered wood the next day.

"What? _We_ don't hold hands."

"No," said Mikasa, cutting through the air with a light branch, imagining a blade.

Eren picked one up as well. "I don't need anyone to lead me around. Not you or Armin. I'm not a baby."

Mikasa did not point out she saw them holding hands four or five times since Armin started hanging around. She instead focused on trouncing Eren thoroughly in pretend-swordplay. Eren might protest otherwise, but he definitely sulked just like a baby.

Years later, when she caught them tangled in rough bedclothes and trying very much to look like they weren't awkwardly kissing and groping each other, she only thought, _Boys are weird_. A sentiment she expressed to them in the words, "Go to sleep already." If they had that kind of energy after 12 hours of working the fields, they should be working like she did to hone their skills for the army next year.

It was not in Mikasa's nature to question things too deeply. Armin was Armin and Eren was Eren. They were, together, Eren and Armin. They shared dreams about the ocean and liked to whistle with blades of grass. If they shared kisses and liked to hold hands, it didn't change how they would always be Eren and Armin. It didn't change that she was Mikasa, part of Mikasa and Eren. They were all part of a single unit. Mikasa and Armin weren't satellites to Eren's sound and fury, though outsiders might see them that way. No, Eren was simply the center of an arch, and Mikasa and Armin were the sides that held him up. Each piece was necessary. The topic required no further examination. Perhaps naively, she assumed that since she and Eren did not change, Armin and Eren would not, either.

The night of disbanding, Eren slipped his hand into Armin's as they walked back to the bunks, and Armin gave him a smile Mikasa never witnessed before. They thought no one was looking - she did not exist to them in that moment. That was when she realized Eren and Armin were both men now, or very nearly men. Some of the cadets were already whispering about marriage, or in the case of certain others, loudly proposing it. As Mikasa understood it, it was not so much about the hope of settling down - they all knew they would probably never have that chance - but finding a moment and holding on tightly to it.

Mikasa wasn't upset by the knowledge. In some ways, it was a relief. If Armin was preoccupied with Eren, it was unlikely he would be stolen away from their trio, depriving Eren's arch of one of its pillars. His gentle, agreeable demeanor and intelligent, thoughtful nature gave him a bit of a reputation as "good husband material" in the women's bunks, even if it usually came with the caveat of "though a bit hopeless as a soldier". Armin also understood Eren and Mikasa in a way no one else did, and wouldn't risk getting jealous or confused by them. It was a pretty good fit. Mikasa didn't entirely understand why they saw the need for it, but it was clearly the best of available options.

Still, she had a few thoughts on the subject she needed to share with Armin.

Mikasa found her two young men asleep in Armin's bunk in the wee hours, Eren spooned with his back against Armin's chest, drooling and snoring. Armin made a far more angelic portrait while sleep, though Mikasa suspected his sleep was far from peaceful. Sharing a bed with Eren meant hogged covers and donkey kicks in the middle of the night. Hard to imagine why anyone would put up with it voluntarily.

She knew Armin was a far lighter sleeper than his companion. "Armin," she murmured, and gently shook his shoulder. Armin's long lashes fluttered open.

"Mikasa," he said, not entirely awake. "Mikasa!" he repeated, when he woke up all at once. He sat up quickly without thinking and banged his forehead hard on the upper bunk. With a wince he to the side of the bed, letting Eren curl up without him. He rubbed the back of his head, looking worried. "What's wrong? What are you doing here?"

"Good morning," Mikasa said.

Armin looked over to Eren, his expression suddenly guilty. "Good morning," he parroted sheepishly.

"We need to talk."

"Of course. Just... Let me get some pants on."

Mikasa waited impassively while Armin searched out his pants. She noted that somehow, Armin's boxers and undershirt seemed in neater condition than she'd ever seen Eren's, even after having slept in it.

The sky was pale pink as they made their way outside. Armin hastily pulled his jacket on and fiddling with one sleeve. "I'm sorry," Armin immediately blurted out. "I told Eren we should talk to you about it, but he just said you wouldn't think it was a big deal, because it's me."

"I knew." Mikasa realized she always knew.

"Oh, well, good then. I just want you to know, I'll do my best never to come between you two. You're like a sister to me too, you know, especially after grandpa..." Armin wet his lips. Mikasa could see the way his thoughts rushed behind his eyes, the way he struggled to assign the correct words to them. "I'm not trying to take him away from you, or replace you. It's not like that."

"I know."

"Then, ah, what did you want at this hour?"

"You got the best score on the written exam."

"That's right, I did." Armin was more matter-of-fact than prideful, in fact praise always seemed to make him a little nervous.

"Could you name every bone in the human body?"

"Maybe."

"I can." Pause. "And I can break every one."

Mikasa could hear Armin blanch.

"So don't hurt him."

"You know he's more likely to get himself hurt than me having anything to do with it," Armin pointed out.

"So don't let him get hurt."

"I think with both our efforts combined... he might not break his neck on the first day. And that's about what we can hope for."

"Still. Don't hurt him."

Armin gave one single, serious nod. "I won't."

"You aren't like us," Mikasa said after a long period of silence.

"Because I didn't see the Titans like you did?"

"That's part of it."

"What's the other part?"

"That's up to Eren to say."

Armin nodded again.

"I'm warning you this once because you're my friend too. Be careful with him."

"I will," Armin said. He rubbed a little sleep from his eye with his knuckle and looked at the ground. "I really... he's really important to me, Mikasa. You both are, but he's special."

Mikasa, who was never the best with her own feelings or the feelings of others, understood. There was a word everyone avoided saying because it was a gamble. It was supposed to be such a certainty, that word, as solid and permanent as the walls around them. But everyone was afraid of laying that word down, because a Titan could punch a hole through it in a second's time and lay lives to ruin.

"I know," she said.

Eren wandered out, pants rumpled, fly still unzipped, jacket free. His hair stuck out at odd angles. He rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms. "Armin, Mikasa, what are you doing out here?"

"Nothing," Armin said.

"Talking about you," Mikasa said.

"That," Eren yawned, "Is really scary."


End file.
